Art in the Age of Doi Moi

This project presents an array of documents pertaining to the period of Vietnamese History known as Doi Moi or Renovation. Doi Moi refers to the decision made by the Vietnamese Communist Party’s VIth Party Congress to liberalize the Vietnamese economy and allow growth in the private sector. Although art and culture were never addressed at the Congress proper, the impetus for change in cultural policy was made official at that time. There is still some debate over the exact dates and the exact nature of renovation in art. Some consider liberalization in art to have taken place a decade earlier after the country was reunified and artists from the North were exposed to the works of their colleagues in the South. Others see renovation taking place under the editorship of Nguyen Quan at the journal My Thuat from 1984-1989. What is certain is that Vietnamese art has gradually been released from government control since the early 1980s culminating in Vietnamese contemporary artists participation in today’s global art market.

The documents presented here were assembled by Natalia Kraevskaia, owner and co-director of Salon Natasha, Hanoi’s first non-governmental art space; Dr. Nora Taylor, Art Historian, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Dr. Boitran Huynh-Beattie, independent curator, Sydney, Australia. They include records of the activities of Salon Natasha in the form of photographs, artists’ portfolios and exhibition materials. They also include copies of the Saigon edition of the journal My Thuat (Fine Art) and two video interviews of Natalia Kraevskaia and former Secretary Luong Xuan Doan.

Salon Natasha played an instrumental role in fostering experimental art practices in Hanoi. The “Salon” was housed in the home of artist Vu Dan Tan and Natalia Kraevskaia on Hang Bong street, in the heart of the capital. It had been Tan’s childhood family home as well and later his studio. The couple opened their home to artists in 1984 and began creating an exhibition program that included thematic shows, one person retrospectives and commissioned work. The door to the space was always open to visitors and guests who were welcomed with tea and candy. Salon Natasha was unique in that it was not managed by a government organization and therefore was not about State politics. And yet, thanks to outsider status and its nurturing of unofficial art practices, more than any institution it stood for the concept of renovation in art.

To learn more about Đổi Mới, please see Dr. Nora A. Taylor's "What is ̣Đổi Mới in Art?"

Ngoc Linh
This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018., Catalogue of the exhibition 'Hanoi, My Love' by Ngoc Linh
Correspondances Vietnamiennes
This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018., Invitation to the art exhibition of Christine Jean (France)and Vietnamese artists living in France and from Vietnam
Nguyễn Hà Bắc
Catalogue of the works by Nguyen Ha Bac for his exhibition in Belgium, This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018.
Nguyễn Ðình Düng
This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018., Invitation to the exhibition 'Passions of the Naked City' by Nguyen Dinh Dung
Group exhibition
This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018., Catalogue and the invitation for the exhibition by Cong Quoc Ha, Cong Kim Hoa, Trinh Tuan, Nguyen Tuan
3 artists exhibition
Invitation to the exhibition by Dao Chau Hai,Phung Quoc Tri and Do Minh Tam, This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018.
Trien Lam Hoi Hoa
This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018., Invitation to the group exhibition of five artist on the occasion of Tet (Vietnamese New Year)
Cinq Artistes - Quatre Murs, New Story - New Artists
This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018., The exhibition of the five young artists - the students of the forth year at Hanoi Fine Arts University. Later three of them - Nguyen Minh Thanh, Nguyen Van Cuong and Nguyen Quang Huy will become the part of Salon 'community' and will take part in the numerous exhibitions and projects organized by Salon Natasha
Cinq Artistes - Quatre Murs, Artists CV
The CVs of some artists from the exhibition. CV of the artists in the archive not always correspond to the year of a related exhibition but can be of the later period., This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A090018.
Cinq Artistes - Quatre Murs, price list
The price list for the exhibition of five young artists Cinq Artistes - Quatre Murs, This item digitized and made available online with funds provided by United States Department of Education, TICFIA (Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information) Grant P337A05006.